Mozart Effect

“Your latest work is String Symphony. How do you decide if a work should be a symphony or a quartet or some other form?”

“It depends on what I want to express. Music always tells a story. Actually it tells two stories, the one that the composer writes and the one that the listener hears. Music is ethereal. Without words, the instruments express a different story to each listener.

I get the idea for a story. For example, maybe I want to write a piece of music that expresses my contempt for the political complacency our nation suffers. I may use the symphonic form. I can express the complacency by having a group of brass instruments play in response to a group of string instruments. They can play in tandem. This format continues with a variety of instruments.

Now we need some contrast. Good music like good writing needs drama. One lone instrument rallies against the crowd and plays a different melody. While the groups of instruments play melodically, the lone instrument plays a dissonant theme.

I take an idea, find the best musical form, and then choose the instruments that tell the story.”

“I never thought of music in that way.”

“That is the beauty of classical music. You have time and resources to express your ideas. A classical piece can be thirty minutes long or an hour long.

“What are the different forms?”

“The symphony uses all the instruments of an orchestra. It contains four movements or sections.

A concerto is similar to a symphony except that one instrument is in the spotlight. For example a piano concerto features the piano against the orchestra. It is like the solo singer and her band.

A sonata is for a solo instrument. It can be the toughest type of music to play. You need to play expressively to keep the audience engaged.

A quartet contains four instruments. They can be the same instruments, different instruments or members of the same instrument family. For example, a string quartet consists of a violin, viola, cello and double bass. The violin plays the soprano voice, the viola the alto voice, the cello plays the tenor and the double bass plays the bass voice.

There are other musical forms. These are the most popular.”

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